Both Variety and Simplicity Are Essential—The meals should be varied. The same dishes, prepared in the same way, should not appear on the table meal after meal and day after day. The meals are eaten with greater relish, and the system is better nourished, when the food is varied. (CG 373.1) MC VC

Our bodies are constructed from what we eat; and in order to make tissues of good quality, we must have the right kind of food, and it must be prepared with such skill as will best adapt it to the wants of the system. It is a religious duty for those who cook to learn how to prepare healthful food in a variety of ways, so that it may be both palatable and healthful. (CG 373.2) MC VC

Even in the table arrangements, fashion and show exert their baleful influence. The healthful preparation of food becomes a secondary matter. The serving of a great variety of dishes absorbs time, money, and taxing labor, without accomplishing any good. It may be fashionable to have half a dozen courses at a meal, but the custom is ruinous to health. It is a fashion that sensible men and women should condemn, by both precept and example.... How much better it would be for the health of the household if the table preparations were more simple. (CG 373.3) MC VC

Results of Poor Cooking—Poor cookery is wearing away the life energies of thousands. More souls are lost from this cause than many realize. In deranges the system and produces disease. In the condition thus induced, heavenly things cannot be readily discerned. (CG 373.4) MC VC